george wrote:
It phones home and reports to Uncle Bill every day, although apparently
Microsoft intends to change it so that it only phones home every two
weeks:
http://www.informationweek.com/inter...leID=188703441
You can block it with your firewall, and you can disable or uninstall
it, although not with "Add and Remove Programs." But Windows Update will
try to install it again and again, unless you hide it. And if you hide
it, WU will tell you that your computer may be at risk. You can read all
the bitching, here:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q28151F3D
Microsoft spyware, plain and simple:
Information collected during validation
Q: What information is collected from my computer?
A: The genuine validation process will collect information about your
system to determine if your Microsoft software is genuine. This process
does not collect or send any information that can be used to identify
you or contact you. The only information collected in the validation
process is:
* Windows product key
* PC manufacturer
* Operating System version
* PID/SID
* BIOS information (make, version, date)
* BIOS MD5 Checksum
* User locale (language setting for displaying Windows)
* System locale (language version of the operating system)
* Office product key (if validating Office)
* Hard drive serial number
Q: How does Microsoft use this information?
A: The information serves three purposes:
* It provides Web page flow, tailoring the pages you see based on
your responses.
* It conveys demographics, which help Microsoft to understand
regional differences in Windows or Office usage.
* It confirms user input. User input is often compared
rl
--
Rhonda Lea Kirk
Insisting on perfect safety is for people
without the balls to live in the real world.
Mary Shafer Iliff
